Cleveland Cavaliers
Once again, general manager Koby Altman has accepted an ugly contract for the chance to give a young project a look and pocket a draft asset in the process. It’s been a recurring theme for the Cavs all season long, and it’s netted them another nice return in a lost season that should be spent pursuing deals exactly like this.
With Burks’ $11.5 million salary set to expire this summer, it was wise to ship him off for a draft pick of some sort. Pocketing a first-rounder — even lottery-protected, from a team expected to finish the year near the top of the West — is a score for the kind of player who was good enough to stir up trade intrigue, but not good enough to cement himself as part of Cleveland’s future.
In their four in-season trades, the Cavs have turned Kyle Korver, George Hill, Rodney Hood and Sam Dekker into two first-round and six second-round picks.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) February 7, 2019
They had to take on some bloated salary in the process, but nothing that extends beyond next season.
Good job by Cleveland.
The Cavs are forced to stomach Brandon Knight’s $15.6 million salary for 2019-20, sure, but that kind of expiring deal could become valuable at next year’s trade deadline for teams looking to free up cap space for the summer. In the meantime, he can provide backcourt depth and hopefully inject life back into his trade value to improve Cleveland’s potential return.
Sending out Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin IV passes on two younger prospects, but the Cavs already have enough of those as it is, and doing so was important for financial reasons too:
To stay below the luxury tax, Cleveland needed to send Nik Stauskas and Wade Baldwin IV to the Rockets. The Cavaliers will create a $1.5M trade exception for both players. Cleveland is now $1.2M below the tax. Brandon Knight has a cap hit of $14.6M and... https://t.co/Ptr2YPDGYf
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 7, 2019
Marquese Chriss is largely viewed as a draft bust, especially after failing to find any traction in Houston, where he had the opportunity to play alongside James Harden in a system perfectly suited for his athleticism and rim-running abilities.
The fact that he was unable to carve out a niche for himself on a winning team — especially one that suffered so many injuries in the frontcourt this year — is worrisome, but the Rockets already declined his team option for next season, so this is really just a two-month trial period before he becomes a restricted free agent.
Let's break down the haul. First off, #Cavs getting a (protected) first-round pick back for Alec Burks and a second-rounder is a good job. Secondly, Brandon Knight was the expected return with his large contract, but nabbing Marquese Chriss in this deal was a bonus.
— Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) February 7, 2019
If the Cavs like what they see from the former eighth overall pick who’s still only 21 years old, they’ll likely be able to re-sign him for cheap. If not, they can cut ties and still be perfectly satisfied with Knight’s expiring deal for next season and a first round pick that would be No. 21 in the draft if the season ended today.
Grade: A-